Bettye and Beth, both from Mississippi, were driving behind a Claiborne County school bus when they noticed it was giving off black smoke. They made several attempts to get the bus to pull over but were unable to get the driver’s attention. Eventually, they pulled their car in front of the bus, forcing it to stop.

“We saw the school bus and it was smoking real bad,” Bettye Windom said. “We knew we had to get those kids out of the bus.”

The sisters, along with the adults on board the bus, helped to get the children out safely. Three minutes after everyone was evacuated, the bus burned to the ground.

Bettye had recently purchased the car that she used to stop the burning bus, but she didn’t hesitate to jeopardize her new car in order to help save the lives of the people on board, the outlet reported.

“I would much rather save the kids than the vehicle,” she said. “A life means a lot more.”